For What Its Worth
by Kerosene Desire
Summary: "What is she doing?" "... trying to reach heaven." Mothers' Day comes but once a year, and for Ruby Rose, its nothing more than a painful reminder of what - or rather who - she no longer has. But with some helpful intervention, maybe she no longer needs to search so high for the ones she loves. Belated Mothers' Day fic. Family/Comfort.


**For What Its Worth**

**A RWBY One-shot: Family**

It was a beautiful day.

The sun shone brightly overhead and the weather was pleasantly warm; a soft, gentle breeze wafting through the air making it only that more enjoyable. All around, the birds sung their morning song; the melodic chirps a cheerful promise of the day to come. Yes, it was a beautiful day indeed; and one a certain silver-eyed girl had been dreading all year. In fact, she had dreaded its annual return as far back as she could remember.

_Mother's Day._ It came but once a year, and what was often a cause for celebration and merriment was nothing more than a painful reminder of what - or rather _who_ - she no longer had...

Slamming her face into the nearest pillow, Ruby tossed and turned in her sheets as she attempted to use the feathery cushion as a shield against the approaching day; cursing the birds and silently threatening them to shut up _or else_… she didn't need them to be all happy, and cheerful; not when she was… she was…

"Ruby… sweetie? Its time to get up…"

'_Ugh! Go away!'_ Muttering dark oaths beneath her breath, the furious fifteen year old wrenched the pillow from her head and kicked away the comforter. Snapping her head, she felt the anger quickly fade from her being as she came face-to-face with the concerned eyes of her elder sister Yang; a myriad of emotions hidden beneath their lavender depths.

There was a long, excruciating pause as the two sisters simply stared at one another; one anxious with worry and the other struggling desperately to appear as apathetic as possible. Chewing her lip, Yang reached a tentative hand up and stroked her fingers through Ruby's hair, tenderly sweeping a stray bang from the corner of her eyes.

She made a valiant attempt to hide her hurt when the younger girl flinched back, but it was too late; Ruby had seen. Her eyes flashed apologetically, but she remained where she lay; leaning away, just out of reach. Yang's hand twitched, but made no further movement; hesitant to make any drastic moves; too scared to touch her when she was this fragile… afraid to shatter what had already been broken and just barely been put back together.

She pulled away.

"Blake and Weiss have already left for breakfast," she spoke, voice slightly choked. "I told them not to wait up…" Running a hand through her golden mane, Yang smiled - though they both knew it was fake. "But I think I'll go catch up with them. They're probably with everyone else in the cafeteria. I heard Nora gushing about this new dream she had… maybe I'll get there in time to hear the good parts!"

Ruby made no attempt to reply and her smile fell. "You can't do this every year…" she whispered, with a soft shake of the head. "It isn't good for-..."

"Please leave."

Two words; spoken so softly that Yang may have never even heard them if she had not been trying so hard to listen for even the faintest of sounds from her sister. Two words; quiet rejection; and her heart wept with anguish. She knew the routine, knew what to expect… but that didn't make it hurt any less. On this one day, of every year, Ruby - her beloved baby sister, her pride and joy, her _whole world_ - was completely untouchable.

Shoulders slumped, she left without another word.

Sighing, Ruby rolled onto her back and lay for several more moments; staring blankly at the ceiling, her eyes unseeing. She knew that it was wrong of her to act this way; that that she wasn't the _only_ one to have lost a mother; that Yang was only worried, only trying to look out for her. But for 364 days a year, she would plaster on her happy face and carry on as if nothing had happened; the remaining day, _this_ day, she chose to be selfish.

_Because her mother was dead. _

Sitting up, she cast a glance about the small room; as if to check that she truly was alone. When she was satisfied that no one was hiding in their closet or that no one would come barging in, Ruby reached into her pillowcase and retrieved a small photo; its' edges crinkled and the color faded with age. She stared at it for a long time, eyes roaming over every wisp of hair; taking in the slight crinkle of her forehead; the twin dimples on either side of the smiling face.

Pressing the photo to her lips, she murmured a quiet, "I love you, Momma," before dropping out of bed to begin the day. She could ignore Yang; she could ignore her friends; but today was a school day, and as much as she didn't want to go, she couldn't ignore that too.

"I'll become the greatest Huntress Vale has ever seen," was her promise.

_Because her mother was dead… and it had been her dream._

An hour later, Ruby sat; huddled in her seat as she listened to Professor Port reenact a battle from his youth; his boisterous voice, which was usually quite bearable to the girl, grating on her every nerve. Her head lolled forward, bowed low so as hide her face beneath her bangs; she knew she probably looked 'depressed' as hell… but it didn't bother her. Not today, anyway.

'_I shouldn't be here today,'_ she thought, her mind wandering; to cold mountains and chilling winds; and swirling petals that called out to her by name. '_I should be with her...'_

She knew Yang was squirming in her seat in the row behind; could feel Blake's penetrating stare on the back of her head; even Weiss knew something was up, her azure eyes flickering in her direction every so often; casting questioning, even concerned glances her way. She felt a twisting sense of guilt knife at her chest… they didn't need to worry; didn't need to _know_.

But she was team leader, she reminded herself; it would be wrong of her to cause such unease within the group. So Ruby turned, when Professor Port's back was to the class, and smiled reassuringly. Or at least, she tried to… what should have said, 'everything is okay,' came out as a weak twitch of the lips; it lasted but a fraction of a second, wavering before their eyes; and then it fell, crashing into a million pieces.

'I'm broken,' was what it had really said. 'It hurts… and I don't know how to make it better.'

The bell rang and she stood quickly, gathering her things. Yang leapt to her feet, hand outstretched to grab her sister, but it was too late… rose petals; the classroom was now filled with them, and Ruby was nowhere to be seen.

The blonde gave a shuddering sigh; she had slipped through her fingers once more…

* * *

The sound of gunshots rang loudly throughout the evening sky; and Yang leant against the brick wall of the school's roof as she stood by its' edge, simply listening. She didn't need to open her eyes to see the swirling vortex of rose petals rising higher and higher in the nearby forest; didn't need to see the silver and crimson blur shooting upwards into the atmosphere before plummeting back down to the earth. She knew these sights and sounds by heart; for it seemed, after all these years, Ruby was at it once again…

"You're not going to jump, are you?" a curious voice asked; edged with a hint of teasing.

"If I did, would you catch me?" she replied, cracking an eye open to watch as Blake slowly approached.

"Nope, not a chance," the Faunas remarked, coming to stand beside her. "... I wouldn't let you jump in the first place."

Yang's lip quirked upwards, but she gave no more inclination that she had heard. For a long moment, the two girls stood, watching the moon and the scattering of petals across its' radiant surface; content to just be in the other's company. In the near distance, the gunfire grew more rapid...

"Today has been a really off day for you and Ruby," the shadow wielder noted. "Is… is this because of your mother?"

A warm night breeze stirred the air around them and Yang blinked back the fresh tears that threatened to fall; her throat tightening. "... how did you know that its about my mother?" she asked, making a rough, rasping noise as she cleared it.

Blake shrugged. "I just knew." When the blonde said nothing else, she thought it best to clarify. "For starters, its Mothers' Day… and more importantly, you never speak of her; you and Ruby, that is. You talk fondly of your father, and you occasionally mention an Uncle Qrow… but you seem to avoid the topic of mothers like the plague."

"Its… a bit of a sore spot."

The Faunas spared a glance towards the young woman by her side. They had been partners for several months now and she had grown accustomed to the blonde's wild antics, her rough and rowdy behavior… but this? This was entirely new territory; a side to Yang she had never seen, and for once, she seemed to appear far older than her chronological age suggested.

It was… unsettling, to say the least.

"What happened?" she asked, her wide amber eyes looking up at Yang. "If you don't mind me asking, that is…"

Yang sighed, taking a deep, steadying breath. "Its fine," she answered, gazing out across the sky; the white radiance of the full moon highlighting the curve of her cheeks, her chin, and all the way down to her neck and shoulders. "Maybe its finally time I talk to someone about it… outside of the family, I mean. Maybe it'll be good to let someone else know…"

Blake said nothing, only waiting patiently for her to continue; after all, it was not her place to make such demands and this was obviously a very private matter.

"It was ten years ago… this month," Yang began, "Mom and Dad would often go off together to Hunt. They were partners… had been since their own time at Beacon. Anyway, this one in particular… it wasn't anything spectacular or especially difficult. Two packs of Beowolves had been fighting over territory and people were getting caught in the crossfire… so they were dispatched to take care of it."

"Ruby was only five at the time… I was seven, almost eight," she continued. "Our Uncle Qrow would come over to the house and watch us for the day whenever they left, and we were usually asleep by the time they returned. But that night, I guess we were just really persistent, so he let us stay up. And when Dad's bike pulled up into the driveway, we threw open the door to greet them…"

There was silence between them as Yang paused, overcome by her emotions as she was forced to relive what had obviously been a traumatic time in her life. Blake's eyes widened in surprise when the other girl edged unexpectedly closer, laying her head against her shoulder; but she didn't pull back.

The brawler seemed to draw comfort from this small gesture, finding the strength within her to finish the rest of the story. "It was only him, standing there with this defeated look in his eyes… all he said to us was: 'your mother won't be coming back home.' And… that was it…"

Reaching out, Blake placed a gentle arm about Yang's shoulder; she had never had a family, so she was not particularly familiar with the idea of losing someone so dear. The closest she had ever come to that was when she'd separated from the White Fang… from Adam… but that had been by choice. Not for Yang… not for Ruby; their mother had been _taken_.

"Did… he ever say what happened?"

"Later on he told us that she had died. Up until then, we weren't exactly sure. We were only kids, after all, and part of us thought that she had just up and left… forgotten about us, or didn't want to come back. I can only guess that's why he finally told us… but he never really spoke of it again, and we didn't want to push him…"

"Ruby took it a lot harder than I did," she went on. "I was young, but I was still old enough to understand the concept of death. I knew that it was part of life, part of their _job_… and it was enough for me. Ruby, on the other hand… for a long time, she thought that it was her fault. That she had done something wrong to scare Mom away… she's been searching for answers ever since…"

Another pause; silent comfort.

"How did you know that I would be up here?" Yang questioned, after several long minutes.

"I just knew," Blake replied, causing the blonde to smile; her first, genuine smile of the day.

She laughed. "That's what I thought you'd say."

And again, there was silence; but it was not awkward, or uncomfortable in the least. The two had come to some sort of unspoken understanding; a renewed or strengthened bond between partners… between friends.

"... can I ask one more question?" the dark haired teen inquired, as the discharge of ammunition in the background became more and more frequent; almost frantic in its' consistency.

"You want to know what Ruby is doing," Yang said, anticipating her curiosity. The smile on her face changed; turning into a look of wistfulness. "Ruby's Semblance… it isn't speed, though she naturally is very fast. I think it would be better described as… instant transmission. All those petals she bleeds off? They aren't for just for show… they're like little radars, or homing devices… they send off tiny pings that only she can hear. And wherever they scatter, she'll follow and appear…"

There was a lapse in conversation, Yang's eyes transfixed on the speeding blur of her sister in the distance; watching as she flew higher and higher… and further and further away from _her_. There was a dull aching in her chest; an endless longing; a part of her sister had died that day along with their mother, and she so desperately wanted it back… but that would never happen, not as long as Ruby continued to grasp for something she would never have..

"So, what she's doing right now… what exactly does that mean?" Blake asked, unsure.

"... it means she's trying to scatter her way to heaven."

* * *

Ruby grunted as she crashed against the rough ground; torn to shreds by the continuous spray of bullets and broken tree branches. Clenching Crescent Rose firmly within her grasp, she leapt once more; with powerful kicks, she launched herself from one tree trunk to the next; climbing higher and higher. Her aura was drained and her body exhausted; but she pushed past the pain and activated her Semblance for what must have been the hundredth time that night.

Reaching the very tip of the tallest tree, she swung her scythe downwards and jumped; several gunshots rang loudly throughout the sky, and she was propelled further upwards. She was swimming in a sea of red, and she willed it higher; watching as the leaves flew upwards in a swirling vortex. In several flashes, she appeared at its' highest point, discharging several more rounds as she repeated the process.

Unfortunately, she was tired; _too _tired and way beyond her limits. Her aura failed, her Semblance faded, and she was now officially out of ammunition… gravity took its toll. There was an uncomfortable tug at her navel as she was pulled back down towards the ground; the wind rushing through her hair, sweeping past her as she simply gave up; allowing her body to plummet like a lifeless rag doll...

"Are you _trying_ to give me a heart attack!"

Ruby closed her eyes, wincing as her broken body collided with the sturdy platform of an all too familiar glyph; the eyes of a furious heiress burning into the deepest depths of her soul. Rolling over onto her hands and knees, she stared out over the edge and paled; she had been _this_ close to hitting the tops of the trees. She supposed she now owed her at least some form of gratitude...

"Thanks for the help," was all she murmured, sliding off the glyph and catching herself on a nearby branch.

"What in the _world_ are you doing?" Weiss shrieked, half panicked despite her overwhelming anger. "Do you even see yourself! I'm _right here_ with a safe way to the ground, and you want to go _climbing_ in your condition?"

"Please leave." It was the same thing she had said to Yang that morning and she only hoped that it would work; but Weiss was not her sister, and did not go down so easily.

"Why? So you can fall to your death?" she retorted, crossing her arms firmly over her chest. She nearly stumbled and fell when Ruby did not reply; only shrugging her shoulders before sliding down the trunk to a lower branch. "Ruby Rose!" she stomped her foot. "Just let me help you, you idiot!"

Ruby lifted her head, and the look in her eyes sent a shockwave of fear through Weiss' body; she looked so utterly lost; so vulnerable… like fragile porcelain at the edge of a table. Just one wrong move and she would go tumbling to the floor; would shatter into a million pieces that could never be repaired. This was a far cry from the girl Weiss had come to know, and greatly care for, in her time here at Beacon...

Weiss had spent years - her entire life almost - constructing a fifty foot high, ten foot deep wall around the one part of her heart that she refused to let others see; it hid her weakness, her flaws and her imperfections; the onslaught of inner demons that would surely damn her if anyone were to catch even the briefest glimpse. But this one girl, her nuisance of a partner, had sent that wall crumbling in a single glance.

_Ruby_; the girl who loved everyone with her endless innocence, and vowed to save the world with her strength…

Cursing beneath her breath, Weiss leapt from the safety of her glyph and landed beside the raggedy teen, bracing the both of them firmly against the exterior of the tree trunk. When Ruby looked up at her, eyes wide in shock and wet with unshed tears, she merely answered, "You wouldn't come to me, so I came to you."

And Ruby's own wall, which had been duct-taped and bandaged over the course of many years, came crashing down.

* * *

"So, are you going to tell me why you were attempting to become the first human propelled rocket, or should I be concerned that you've finally gone and lost your mind?"

The two sat, now safely on solid ground, in one of the many gardens Beacon had to offer; Weiss hoped the lack of trees would deter any lingering thoughts of continuing her apparent mission to the moon, though she was now regretting straying too closely to the school tower…

Instead of answering, Ruby lay back against the grass and stared upwards at the stars and sky, posing a question of her own, "Did you speak with your Mother today?"

Taken aback, Weiss shot her a peculiar look. "Uhm… well, yes. Of course," she answered, after a moment. "I slipped away for a short chat after dinner. I'd sent her a bouquet of exotic flowers and an assortment of her favorite chocolates. I wanted to ensure that she had received my gifts."

"Must be nice," Ruby sighed, arms crossed behind her head.

"Yes, well, my mother has a very refined taste," Weiss explained, smoothing out her skirt. "I should only hope that it was 'nice' enough for her. It cost me quite a pretty penny to get those flowers imported in time, you know."

"I meant the talking," the other clarified, eyes fluttering shut as the breeze caressed her face; stroking tenderly at her cheeks. "Telling her about your grades, your classes, _whatever_. Just hearing her voice.. I mean, I can't even _remember _what my Mom sounds like…"

Weiss' head snapped in her direction, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of her gut; was Ruby's mother…? And suddenly, it all made sense; why she and Yang never seemed to want to talk about her; or why today, of all days, they were mere shells of their usual bubbly selves.

'_Why did I never see it before?'_ she wondered, suddenly feeling awful for not realizing it sooner. How many times had she flaunted the gifts her mother had sent her - right before their eyes, or bragged about their shopping trips together…

"She died about ten years ago, and I was too young to know her," the younger girl went on, confirming the heiress' fears. The words slipped from her lips, rushing out of her mouth like a racehorse at the gates; gone, like the wind, before she could even take them back. Mentally, she berated herself for letting it all out there; she hadn't meant to tell her… not like that, anyway.

Half of her wanted Weiss to understand; to see that she wasn't _always_ a bundle of happiness and endless energy; the other half, the one that knew how much Weiss detested any form of weakness, simply prayed that she wouldn't think any less of her. It was already bad enough that she had cried in front of her only a short while ago.. but it had taken her so long to gain the girl's respect, and to have lost it so quickly…

"I'm… sorry to hear that." It was all Weiss knew what to say. After all, what _could_ she say?

Ruby sighed silently in relief; not the most clear idea of what she was thinking, but at least it wasn't eternal damnation. "It's okay," she said, in a half whisper. "It was a really long time ago…"

"And yet it still bothers you." It was less of a question and more of a statement.

"I was five," Ruby spoke, shrugging; still refusing to look at her partner, wanting to appear as nonchalant as possible. "She and Dad went on a Hunt one day and she just… never came back. I didn't understand what it meant at the time, only that she was never coming home, and for a long time I thought that… maybe it had been my fault."

She wanted to stop talking; she _had_ to stop talking… so why wasn't she? It was as if a dam had broken inside of her and the waters refused to cease; so she kept on talking…

"I know that it may come off as stupid, but when I learnt that my mother and I shared similar Semblances, I would climb up onto the roof of the house and scatter for hours. I thought that maybe - just _maybe_ - if I got one of my petals high enough, I could visit her in heaven. Yang nearly set a tree on fire the first time she found me; she was _so _angry… I had tricked her into taking a nap when she was supposed to be watching me, and then snuck out the window…"

A small laugh escaped her; a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Yang… she really took care of me after Mom died…"

Weiss carefully eyed the girl, cloaked in crimson and bathed in moonlight; this wasn't the first time that Ruby's manner had made her appear older than she truly was. Her eyes had lost the sort of naive innocence that she always carried around with her; becoming altered, changed. She didn't quite know what it was; only that it was there, hidden somewhere deep beneath the surface; something within this girl of fifteen years that Weiss had never seen before.

"You are such a _dunce_," she snorted, after several moments of silence, and Ruby's eyes flew open to glare at her. She hadn't meant to sound so insulting, but at least the girl was looking at her now; she was quick to grasp the teen by her chin, forcing her not to look away. "Do you trust me?"

Ruby struggled to find words. "I… I… yeah, of course I do. We're partners, and we've already been through so much. I know I can trust you… what kind of question is that anyway…?"

"A valid one," Weiss replied, releasing her. And then she did something neither of them had been expecting; putting her arms around Ruby, she yanked her upwards from her lying position and pulled her into a hug. Albeit an awkward hug, but a hug nonetheless…

Ruby stiffened at the embrace, but relaxed a moment later; hesitantly, she wrapped her own arms around the older girl, returning the gesture. She could feel a familiar sting at the corner of her eyes, but she didn't cry; just held on more tightly.

"For what its worth," Weiss whispered, her warm breath tickling at Ruby's ear, "It isn't stupid. The scattering, I mean…" She gave the girl a final squeeze before leaning back, reaching out to grab at the petals of a nearby bush. Plucking one from its' center, she held it up for Ruby to see before firmly planting it upon the earth.

"But this is where you belong…" she continued, tapping a finger over the colorful leaf. "You'll reach heaven someday, but just try and keep yourself grounded for the next fifty to sixty years first, all right? Yang is still down here… Blake and I are down here too… your life is _here_, so you shouldn't spend the rest of your life wondering what's up _there_. Your Mom will still be waiting… and then you two can talk for as long as you want."

* * *

It was nearing midnight when Ruby returned to the dorm; dragging her exhausted body in through the door and shutting it as quietly as she could. The room was dark, the only source of light the thin strip of moonlight that cut through the gap of their curtains. Ignoring the aches and pains of several dozen falls, she tip-toed past the mess of clothes and books on the floor, careful not to awaken her slumbering teammates...

"You look like hell."

Ruby jumped, startled by the unexpected voice; heart leaping at the pair of golden eyes staring out at her from the blackness. She sighed in relief when she realized that it was only Blake; the fear that gripped her fading away into the background.

"I _feel _like hell…" she admitted, coming to stand beside the bed. Glancing upwards, she craned her neck; staring at the sleeping lump that was her elder sister. A fresh wave of guilt tumbled through her, and suddenly, she was drained; beyond fatigued, and her legs felt like heavy lead. She had been absolutely terrible to Yang…

Reaching out, she braced her hands against the frame of Yang's bunk; arms visibly shaking as she attempted to hoist herself up. She managed to lift herself a foot or so before they simply gave out and she fell; wincing as her battered legs hit the floor. '_I'm too weak...'_

"Here, let me help you," said Blake, catching onto her intentions. Lifting the younger girl into her sister's bed, she gave a parting nod before disappearing into her own bunk. She would give them privacy; as this was something they both needed.

Mumbling a soft 'thank you' to their friend, Ruby took a moment to simply sit; watching the quiet rise and fall of her sister's chest as she slept. She was rolled onto her side, one arm propped beneath her head and the other tossed around a pillow, hugging it to her chest. Immediately deciding that this needed fixing, she gently lifted Yang's arm, tugging the pillow away and replacing it with her own, tired body.

"W-wha… Ruby?" Yang blinked in tired surprise, feeling the warmth of her sibling's body as she snuggled closely into her arms.

"Hi Yang…" she whispered, nuzzling her head sleepily against her shoulder. It had been a long, long time since she'd been held by her sister - really, truly _held_ - and now that she was here, the child within her yearned for her sisterly affection.

Yang was instantly alert, afraid that something had happened. She had seen little of the other girl that day, blatantly ignored by her in class and only catching momentary glimpses of her in the halls; yet here she was, climbing into her bed as she once did when they were kids.

"Are you okay?" she asked, running a hand through Ruby's silky black locks. '_Please don't push me away, please don't leave...'_

"Mhmm," Ruby mumbled, yawning. The day's toll was finally taking its' affect on her body and the comfort she felt at the moment was just too much for her to handle. Slowly, her eyes began to flutter shut, her breathing becoming even and shallow as she fell asleep…

But not before she placed a red petal against Yang's chest; whispering, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm back..." And Yang's heart soared, because she knew that Ruby meant it in every sense of the word.

* * *

**A/N: Oh lord, that was terrible. This was a pretty personal write, and it almost got too painful to finish; I definitely apologize for letting the quality just drop off the face of the earth at the end like that.  
**

**A belated Mother's Day fic. Kind of silly, I know, but just something I needed to write. My own mom died when I was very young, and I dug myself into a deep, dark hole while my older sister fought tooth and nail to pull me back up. I'm still in that hole, but at least I can see the light. **

**To all the mothers and mother-figures out there, God bless you for all you do. We youngsters may never outright say it, but everything you do is appreciated; more than you'll ever know. **


End file.
